Dennis Ross and What He Means for Iran and the Price of Oil -03/17/09 at 5:20 AM CDTby Reggie Abaca

Investors in oil (OIL, USO, USL) ought to pay special attention to last month's appointment for the office of "special advisor" on Middle East affairs to the United States Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. Is this person a thoughtful middle of the road academic scholar?  No. This person is Dennis Ross, a former foreign affairs analyst for the ...

Watch Out For Contango: Looking For The Best Long Term Oil Fund: USO,... -03/06/09 at 10:48 PM CSTby Perry Rod

It's really very simple. Go to any stock comparison chart today and compare the popular United States Oil Fund (USO), Barclay's iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Fund (OIL), or PowerShares Crude Oil Double Long and compare these to The United States 12 Month Oil Fund (USL) or PowerShares DB Oil Fund.  You will find that USL and DBO outperform the res...

The United States Oil Fund: A Way to Short The Market? -02/19/09 at 6:34 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

With fewer people working in the United States, fewer people have been driving.  It had been assumed that this would cause a new trend of falling consumption of oil, as was the case in the early 1980's.  But hold on there.  Oil prices shot up on Thursday after government data showed that oil inventories unexpectedly fell and consumption may...

Peak Oil Fears Are Not Translating Into Higher Oil Prices -02/11/09 at 10:56 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

The talking heads on television are leading an overwhelming chorus of opinion that says, "this financial crisis was caused by loose lending practices." But what caused loose lending practices? The answer will be obvious to those who specialize in risk assessment.  Overall loose lending practices are caused by a loose belief that overall growth is in...

Benjamin Netanyahu, Peak Oil, And a World On The Brink -01/29/09 at 6:44 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

The election of Democrat Barack Obama has managed to calm the wary nerves of those who feared the idea of an expanded worldwide war.  There is a sense of calm on that front and an entirely new focus on the devastating economic crisis of today.  Even investors in the crude oil (OIL) market are, for now, sitting back and taking a breath, perhaps c...

Peak Oil Production in Russia Suggests Worldwide Supplies on the Brink -01/26/09 at 12:25 AM CSTby Reggie Abaca

Russian oil production decreased for the first time in 10 years according to Vedomosti, a Russian newspaper.  The decrease was only 0.7%, while exports were reduced more dramatically year over year, down 6.2%. The fall in Russian production may be a major turning point in worldwide crude oil production.  While OPEC nations such as top producer S...

Is Oil Staging A Comeback Because of War Speculation? -12/31/08 at 1:24 PM CSTby Perry Rod

Israel's attack on Gaza has a lot people wondering whether or not their aggressive move is a prequel for an Iranian attack.  An attack on Iran would send oil prices soaring as Iran's only immediate line of defense would be to blame the United States and disrupt ships that go through the Persian Gulf. Indeed, with light trading in crude oil futures an...

OPEC Makes No Decision on Production Cuts -11/29/08 at 3:54 PM CSTby Reggie Abaca

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left a Cairo meeting without an agreement to cut production, according to various media reports. In recent years, the international oil cartel has seen significant disagreement between its member countries, especially between U.S. allies in Arab nations like Saudi Arabia and U.S. adversaries Iran and V...